Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I remember the first time I ever attended an Orthodox service and heard that, now, all familiar prayer petition: “In peace let us pray to the Lord. . . . For this country, for its president, for all civil authorities, and for the armed forces, let us pray to the Lord” (Litanies). It sounded weird, that is, it sounded strange to my ear, not the fact that we were praying for our country nor even for our rulers, but rather “for the armed forces.” In some ways, it felt like it transgressed that very peculiar American doctrine of the separation of Church and state. We were praying for our military.
And yet, in today’s apostolic Epistle, the Apostle clearly exhorts the Church, “first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.” Adding thereto, in particular, all governmental authorities and rulers in the personages of “kings and all who are in authority.” It did not matter to St. Paul that the very authority for whom he was praying, supplicating, interceding for, and offering up thanksgiving – and exhorting the Church to do the same – was the murderous tyrant Nero who eventually would martyr Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome.
Somehow that whole notion feels counterintuitive. Perhaps we should be praying about such a diabolical and deranged emperor, but for him, especially rendering thanks? And yet, this is exactly what Sacred Scripture and our Holy Tradition prescribe: “I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all who are in authority, . . . .”
I tried to put myself in the place of those brethren who lived under the extreme oppression of the Communist yoke and other similar political straitjackets, and tried to imagine them praying for all those tyrannical persons under whose demonic dictatorship hundreds of thousands, if not more, were mercilessly annihilated all because of the Faith or their race or their physical disabilities. “In peace let us pray to the Lord. . . . For this country, for its president, for all civil authorities, and for the armed forces, . . . .” I tried to imagine just what prayer for the very armed forces of Communist aggression (or any dictatorial ideology) might mean for them – and for us – and it eventually struck me that that prayer, that supplication and intercession, was open-ended allowing God to do what He saw fit to do and to answer that prayer according to His divine will and wisdom, which is the very thing we ask in the Our Father. “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed by the Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. . . . .” The Church is saying, “Thy will be done, Lord, here on earth through its civil rulers and authorities which Thou hast rightfully appointed to govern us (Rm. 13:1-7; Ts. 3:1; 1 Pe. 2:13-17), as Thy will is done in Heaven under Thy divine Majesty.”
The Church, thus, isn’t beseeching God to bless the endeavors and exploits of godless tyrants and their armies, but that He would deal with them accordingly. In the meantime, praying, as we do in the Anaphora for all civil authorities, asking the Lord to “grant them, . . . , peaceful governance, that we, in their tranquility, may lead a calm and peaceful life in all godliness and sanctity” (St. John Chrysostom Divine Liturgy, 69). And there it is, the reason for the apostolic exhortation: “that we, in their tranquility, may lead a calm and peaceful life in all godliness and sanctity.” This is the very reason St. Paul provides to the Church for prayers, supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings for all who are in authority over us. If they are at peace, we can be at peace. In fact, St. Basil’s Divine Liturgy fleshes that prayer out even more, expanding on this idea that allows the Church and her baptized faithful to live and thrive wherever they may be found! In that Anaphora we pray,
Remember, O Lord, this country and all civil authorities: grant them a secure and lasting peace; speak good things into their hearts concerning Thy Church and all Thy people, that we, in their tranquility, may lead a calm and peaceful life in all godliness and sanctity. Remember, O Lord, every principality and authority, our brethren who serve in the government and the armed forces. Preserve the good in Thy goodness, and make the evil to be good by Thy goodness (103).
By these prayers, the Church remembers such saints as Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego who served faithfully in the Babylonian kingdom that had exiled them far from their homeland of Judea. Indeed, they were found to be wise governmental counselors, honored by the king for their wisdom, especially that of Daniel, without compromise of their faith and morals. We recall how Joseph the All-Comely, sold into slavery by his own flesh and blood siblings, eventually was exalted, second only to Pharaoh himself in all the land of Egypt. Joseph’s wise governing provided for a world in need during seven years of brutal drought. It was Joseph who could perceive in this unfair, unjust hand dealt to him the very will and providence of God Who alone can see from eternity, stem to stern. Though his brothers had intended him evil when they cruelly sold him as a slave, God, however, “’meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day, to save many people alive’” (Gn. 50:19-21). And, of course, the words of the Prophet Jeremiah to an exiled people are classic:
‘Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, unto all who are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon: Build ye houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them. Take ye wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters, that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace’ (Jr. 29:4-7).
The Church in every time and place and circumstance prays on behalf of all who are over her, whether or not they are worthy of her prayers. She does what is asked of her by the Lord and what the Apostles instruct her to do. For by praying for the peace of all she prays for herself (this is a fundamental principle of prayer) “that we, in their tranquility, may lead a calm and peaceful life in all godliness and sanctity.” The goal, therefore, is practical so “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence,” that we may “work out [our] salvation in fear and trembling” (Pp. 2:12). That we do so, says St. Paul, is “good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.” So, let none of us balk at praying for “this country, its president, for all civil authorities, and for the armed forces,” especially so if the ones sitting in the White House or in Congress are adamantly opposed to our Faith and our values. So, “In peace let us pray to the Lord.”
But, it is not just for us we ask these things, it is for all men and women because, as St. Paul tells us, “God our Saviour, . . . will have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the Truth.” By praying indiscriminately for all souls, we faithfully and obediently demonstrate our faith and embrace the whole world in the love of God Whose only-begotten Son was offered up as a ransom for all. Salvation is always the focus of the Church and her baptized – our salvation and that of the whole world. For we are reminded by St. John the Theologian and Evangelist that this Jesus is “the propitiation [sacrifice] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2). Or, to use St. Paul’s well known words, “For there is one God [over all] and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”
We pray for all because there is only one God Who is the Saviour of all. “’Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved’” (Ac. 4:12). As much as the world would want to argue differently, that is, all gods worshipped around the world all lead, like spokes on a wheel, to a common hub, this just simply isn’t true. “’I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life,’” declares our Lord, “’no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me’” (Jn. 14:6). And, again, Jesus the enfleshed God declares, “’I AM the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep’” (Jn. 10:11). “’All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers’” (Jn. 10:8). Jesus Christ alone has in Himself united two natures perfectly in a holy union – divine and human – fully God and fully Man. He and He alone, therefore, is the sole and only Mediator of God and Man by Whom salvation has been purchased and through Whom it alone can be gained.
Now, humor me, holy brethren, and allow me to say a little something about this Biblical verse we have all heard used against our doctrine of the intercession of the saints or prayers to the saints. Those non-Orthodox have claimed it as Biblical evidence prohibiting such prayer. Perhaps in our own pre-Orthodox days we, too, may have even used it as a proof text against such.
St. Paul clearly says, doesn’t he, that “there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” It has been asserted (erroneously) that we can pray to none other, that we cannot pray to the saints departed this life asking for their supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving. Yet, the Apostle has just invited us all, that is, the Church, to participate in the mediation of prayer, that is, to mediate on behalf of kings and all others in authority, interceding for them, praying for them. Others implore the Church for our prayers, beseeching our mediation with God on their behalf. However, it has been asserted that we have only one Intercessor Who stands before the throne of God on our behalf to Whom we must pray and to none other.
Yet, is that what St. Paul is saying here? No, it is not. When the Apostle offers us the image of Jesus Christ being the sole and only Mediator between God and men, it is rooted in and expresses the reality of His divine Incarnation: God made flesh and becoming Man through the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary (Nicene Creed; Lk. 1:26-38; Jn. 1:1-18). And, because of this and this alone, He and He alone, is the Saviour of all men and women. He and He alone is the union of God and man, the reconciler breaking down the wall of hostility (Ep. 1:10; 2:13-19; Co. 1:19-23), the bridge between God and man uniting both natures in Himself to the fullest possible extent without loss or without addition, that is, He is the one and only God-Man Who is at once both the Offering and the Offerer, Priest and Sacrifice, the one Mediator. This is what St. Paul is saying in this verse. And by virtue of this one-of-a-kind reality, He is the sole Mediator and Advocate for us, standing before the throne of God as our Great High Priest and Intercessor (Hb. 7:25). And, He invites us to join Him in this intercession and mediatorship, to share in His saving and sanctifying Priesthood (1 Pe. 2:5, 9-10; Rv. 1:6; 5:10), to stand with Him before the throne of God praying for the whole world.
Only because of Jesus Christ can we do so. And this applies not just to the living, beloved, but to those saints departed this life who lift up their hands in prayer (1 Tm. 2:8) until the Day of Judgment (Rv. 5:8; 6:9-11; 8:3-4). That this should be so should not surprise us. For He is Lord, Paul tells us elsewhere, “of both the dead and the living,” as does our Lord in the Gospels (Mt. 22:23-33; Mk. 12:18-27; Lk. 20:27-40; Rm. 14:8-9). Just as we invite others to pray for us (in essence we pray to them, that is, we address them, beseeching their prayers for us), just as the holy Apostle Paul sought the prayers of others in a variety of places (Rm. 15:30-32; 2 Cr. 1:10-11; Ep. 6:18-20; Pp. 1:19; Co. 4:2-4; 1 Th. 5:25; 2 Th.3:1-2; Ph. 1:22), so we implore those faithful departed saints to continue their priesthood of intercession begun on earth as they now live in the Presence of God. Death does not change that relationship, beloved. And why would we deprive ourselves of their holy prayers?
The Church, then, beloved, is the Bride and her Bridegroom is Jesus Christ the God-Man. She is thereby united with Him in the great Mystery of Marriage (Ep. 5:22-33), and she participates fully in His Priesthood of mediatorship through Him, with Him, in Him (Ep. 1:22-23). Thus, He is “the one Mediator between God and men, . . ., Who gave Himself as a ransom for all,” Whose Mediatorship makes it possible for us to obey the apostolic counsel to pray, intercede, supplicate, and offer up thanksgiving to God on behalf of the whole world. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth.”
Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
VIGIL PROPERS: PROPERS:
Is. 61:1-9 1 Tm. 2:1-7
Lv. 26:3-12, 14-17, 19-22, 33, 40-41 Lk. 4:16-22
WS 4:7-15